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Welcome to the new age (Snowfall)
Welcome to the new age Part One, Mission One of Snowfall The opening is partly from the first ever episode of War, to which I credit it! I love my life. I really do. I mean, look at me, a well-groomed kittypet, in a beautiful house accompanied by an amazing she-cat named Sparkles. Trips to buildings in Twolegplace, festivals, exhibitions, amazing luxury food, and a comfortable bed every night. What’s not to love? “Snowpaw!” calls Sparkles from the kitchen. “Come on, we’re doing something different today!” Sparkles has a cream pelt dappled with silver spots, while I have a snowy white pelt, long and fluffy from the past few months as a kittypet. Despite all the food, I still maintain my amazing warrior build from my time in Thunderclan. “Where are we going?” I ask her as we slip through the open window. The garden around us smells of flowers and freshly cut grass, a pleasant start to the day. Sparkles flicks her ears. “Remember Bottle and Penlid from your first encounter here?” I stop in my tracks, trying to remember. “Yeah.” She slowness her pace, waiting for me to catch up. “We’re meeting them today!” she squeals. “And we have something special planned for you!”. “Great!” I purr, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she was. “But I thought we were going for a walk by the river today?” Sparkles skips along the path by the road. “Oh never mind that, dear. This is going to be much more exciting!” I try to engage in a conversation. “So tell me more about where we’re going,” I ask as we scrabble onto a car and project ourselves over a crumbling stone wall. The sight in front of me now is hardly what I imagined. A house stands before us, worn and falling apart. The windows are smashed, the door has fallen off, and weeds have blocked any view of the path. “Sparkles,” I tremble, looking at the rusty signs around us as we approach the house. “I think this is private property.” My best friend comes bounding up to me to give my ear a loving lick. “Oh Snowpaw,” she sighs dreamily. “It’s just to keep the vandals out.” I hold my head high as we approach the door. Suddenly a tiny hole opens up in the door. Sparkles just looks at it, and makes a complicated series of shapes with her tail. The door opens, and before us stands a handsome yellow tom. “Sparkles,” comes a rumbling purr. “Long time, no see.” He steps aside. “Please, come in.” Sparkles gracefully steps into the gloom of the house, ignoring the sinister atmosphere within. “I’d prefer it if you’d call me by my codename, Snarl.” Codename? What is Sparkles talking about? Snarl grits his teeth. “Fine, Silence.” “I appreciate your etiquette, Tarquin.” Snarl lunges at her. “Don’t ever call me that! Snarl is my codename, and that is what you will call me.” He gets off of Sparkles, and glares at me. “You too, recruit.” “I’m a recruit?” I ask him, puzzled. Sparkles shoved Snarl aside. “Allow me to explain,” she apologised. “We’re spies. Remember that movie we watched recently?” I nodded. “That’s what we are. We each have a codename, carry out missions, and recruit cats. Like you.” She and Snarl vanish into a corridor, which is suddenly lit by dozens of candles. I have no choice but to follow them. At the end of it, there is a hall where a few cats are sitting. Sparkles introduces them as Bottle, Penlid, Scar, Scabs, and Toothbrush. “And this is Snowpaw,” she says as the cats look at me curiously. “She’s our new recruit.” “Ah, Snowpaw, a pleasure to see you again,” nods Bottle from the head of the table. He turns to Sparkles. “Please call your mentor Silence. She would rather prefer it, would she not?” Silence nods at him. “Indeed. Although it has been a few months since we were supposed to meet, operation Starburst has been a major success. The flight home was a tedious ordeal though.” She licks her paw as the others laugh. Starburst? Flight? What is this place? Toothbrush, a tom with spiky, bristly fur is the next to speak. “I know this is much too early, but how about properly introducing her to this place and sending her on a mission?” The other toms nod in agreement. “You can’t send Snowpaw!” Silence gasps. “She’s had warrior training, but is that enough?” Scar tuts. “Silence, of course she’s ready. We must wait no longer. Yes, your last apprentice died in the field, but Snowpaw here has potential and skill.” Silence’s face is full of shock. “We’ll give her a tour, slap on a disguise and send her out on a mission.” Snarl shakes out his fur and pads across the table to meet me. “Snowpaw,” he meows. “Welcome to the FROST centre. The Feline Recruit Omega Snarl Training centre.” I never imagined that a creepy-looking house could be so awesome! Snarl introduces me to the training room, the kitchens, and the dormitories. I guess this is where I’ll be staying for the rest of my life. There was also many other rooms, too many to mention. We end up back at the hall, where the other cats were deep in discussion. “Snowpaw!” exclaims Bottle. “Back so soon?” I nod. “We were just deciding on your first mission.” Silence purrs. “So many choices.” Scabs stands up. “Choose one: Symmetrey or Pencil Skies?” Symetreey does sound cool, ''I ponder, ''but Pencil Skies sounds really interesting. ''I’ll choose Pencil Skies. “Great!” the cats chorus in unison. Now the group is leading me to a room, all metal walls, mats, and screens. In the middle are obstacles. Conveyor belts, smooth walls, trapeze bars. You name it, it’s there. “We’re going to stay here until you clear them all.” A wicked smile creeps across of Silence’s face. “Learn from your mistakes. Now go.” I hurl myself at the smooth wall, struggling to get a proper grip. A creaking sound fills my ears as I slide down. The cats behind me snicker. An idea pops into my head. ''If I scale it quickly, then I can get myself up. ''Lunging at the wall again, I scrabble up the first few metres, but I lose my footing and fall. ''Think, Snowpaw, think! What helps me hold onto things? Paws, teeth, claws…yes! Claws! Unsheathing my claws and leaping at the wall for a third time, I sink my claws into the metal. Hearing murmurs of approval from behind, I am filled with a surge of determination. It’s like climbing a tree. Raising my legs and sinking my hind claws into the metal, I can almost see the top. After a while, I manage to heave myself over the side of the wall and sit there with a triumphant look on my face. “That was great, Snowpaw, now come down!” Bottle calls from below. I look at the dizzying drop below, and I start to feel unwell. “Come down?” I yell. “But it’s so far!” He scrapes his claws against the floor. “Don’t make me come up there,” he growls. Silence is dragging a thing across the room, and I recognise it as a trampoline. “Just let go!” she yowls. “It’ll be alright!” Taking a deep breath, I let go. I hit the trampoline with such force that the air is knocked out of me. But not for long. Suddenly I am soaring upwards, watching the cats below me turn into ants. “Look at me!” I laugh. “I’m flying!” Snarl gives a purr. “See? I told you it would be alright!” The cats drag the trampoline away, and I land on all four paws in a graceful position. “What’s next?” I grin. Scabs flicks his tail towards a wall with numerous ledges jutting out of it and retreating in a never ending cycle. “Parkour,” he meows, as if it’s the easiest thing in the world. There are slides, ledges, and bars at a large distance from one another. But the worst thing of all was the distance between the course and the floor. One wrong move, and I could plummet to my death. How could I complete these trials alive? Silence pushes me forward with her tail. “Climb up there,” she suggests, looking at two vertical sticks with lots of smaller sticks horizontally spaced out along them. “Up the ladder and off you go. Use your paws like in the previous task. ” Carefully I approach the ‘ladder’. It looks like a tree, I muse to myself. Surely it uses the same techniques as climbing one. Placing one paw on one of the small horizontal sticks, a breathe out a sigh of relief. ''Thank Starclan this thing is stable. ''I put my other paw on the one above, and hoist myself up. ''Forepaws, hind paws, hoist up, repeat, ''I sing in my head. Quite a nice tune, actually. My confidence builds up, and soon I have scrambled to the top of the ladder. Now all I have to do is somehow grip the smooth ledge that the ladder is leaning against, and somehow get onto the ledge… No. This is way too hard. But I only live once, right? I dig my claws into the white ledge, and unbelievably it is soft. “What’s with this thing?” I yell down to the cats below. “It’s soft so it’s easier for recruits to get up!” replies Snarl. I laugh and finish getting on to the ledge and eye my obstacles. Large distance jumps, bars, ledges and traps. I think I can handle them all. Not. I bunch up my muscles to spring. I hurl myself forwards and my chest slams against the second ledge. The air is knocked out of me. And now I’m slipping. I think I’m going to die. The cats below scream, and yell random suggestions. “Use your claws to drag yourself further up the ledge!” screams Silence. Bottle shoves her out of the way. “Use a parachute! Oh wait you don’t have one.” I laugh silently and take Silence’s idea. Miraculously I am back on the ledge again. For another jump. I use the same technique as last time, but in mid-air I stretch myself further. I land perfectly on the ledge this time. The cats below stamp their paws in approval. The next jump (and the last one too!) is cleared, and now I have to do this thing where I grip onto one of the bars, and swing myself to the other bar, and so on until I reach the next ledge. Toothbrush’s advice is to lick my paws so their grip is better. And the bars are way scarier than anything I’ve done in my life. I go upside down, then I’m flying through the air. What the Dark Forest is this? A cruel joke? “You did it Snowpaw!” cheers Silence from below. “Now run before—” I’m too full of adrenaline to listen, and run towards the ledges. They are mounted at different lengths so I have to use my mind more. An ear-splitting noise fills the room, and a giant black boulder knocks down the wall where I was a millisecond ago. The toms laugh and Silence lets out a stream of curse words that I sometimes hear from Twolegs. But I’m too determined to finish this to care. I gracefully descend onto the last ledge, and catch my breath. And then I realise: there’s no ladder. “How do I get down?” I ask loudly. The cats below stop their bickering and turn to face me. “Jump.” “I’m going to die!” “Jump,” they repeat again. And I jump. A ledge magically pops up from nowhere, and I scream. And laugh, at the same time. I bound off of it and another one appears, and soon I am safely back on the ground. Silence gives me an ''I told you so ''look. “Fun, wasn’t it?” I pant and nod my head. “Great!” she chirrups. “Now how about some lemonade? Don’t worry, I make it safe for cats to drink!” Never in my life have I had lemonade. It tastes awesome! “Why didn’t you make this in the Twoleg nest?” I ask her. Silence shakes her head. “I never had the right materials.” She nudges a plate of pale pinkish blobs. “Salmon cakes?” My jaw drops in surprise. “You have salmon cakes here? With cream cheese and everything?” “Why wouldn’t we? Take a bite, Snowpaw.” I tear apart the cake with my paws and shove my muzzle into it. “Awesome,” I exclaim through a mouthful of food. Silence purrs and looks embarrassed. “I make them myself.” From across the dining room table, Bottle, Penlid, Scar, Scabs, and Toothbrush and Snarl watch us eat. I notice them and lift my head. “What do you want?” Snarl places a paw on the table to look more businesslike. “Snowpaw, we wish to welcome you to FROST.” I dip my head politely. “Thank you. Is this a celebratory lunch or something?” “Something like that.” “But you’re looking at me like you’re wanting to say something.” I bare my teeth unnecessarily. Just for the sake of looking serious. Without a word, Snarl abandons his place at the table and disappears down a corridor. I have no choice but to follow him. He leads me to a small room. “Snowpaw,” he meows. “I want to talk to you about your mission.”